FANDOM Staff Blog

Today we’d like to provide an update on two important
FANDOM-related security topics, explaining a message users will see
on Google Chrome and how FANDOM will be rolling out improved HTTPS
support in the near future

Many web browsers are taking the lead in making users more aware
of security concerns, most notably Google Chrome. Users of Chrome
will notice in upcoming weeks that a "Not secure" message will
appear on the address bar while filling in a number of forms around
the FANDOM network, including when editing.

FANDOM has made plans to fully secure these tools in upcoming
engineering cycles, but in the interim these forms do not transmit
any personal data or private information and you will not be at
risk using our tools. As always, we …

Last week we were excited to announce how the South Park wiki
kicked off FANDOM's Community Video Program. This new program is an
important part of producing Featured Videos that complement the
quality of written wiki content across the site and remain up to
date. The program is still in its infancy, but, if your wiki is in
the Top 1,000 on WAM, we are excited to begin working with you on
original scripts that we can produce for your community!

First, let's talk about our basic production process. We have a
team of editors dedicated to producing Featured Videos. These
editors create a concept for the video, write the script, gather
the footage and (sometimes) record voiceover, and then edit the
video together so it can be posted to the righ…

One of the most exciting parts about adding video to the site
and accomplishing our goal of slashing 30% of the ads on FANDOM
wikis is that we now have a quickly growing team that’s dedicated
to Featured Video. The number of videos we're able to create is
growing too, and producing quality content that complements the
quality of written wiki content is incredibly important to us. To
help do that, we're in the beginning stages of a community
participation program where admins and editors can create and
review Featured Video scripts.

We recently had a great success with this program on South Park
Archives. We posted a video on the page for Kenny McCormick—of "Oh
my God, they killed Kenny!" fame—and the community contacted us
with some ideas t…

What can you do to make your wiki attractive and readable for
the widest group of readers? Develop platform-independent design
guidelines. This may require breaking with some old habits, but
you’ll get a larger audience in return.

This blog will give you the essentials of progressive
design. See here for the in-depth version.

Navboxes are groups of lists of short links packed into a layout
table. They are not mobile friendly.

If an article is part of a group of articles, consider whether
that navbox group should be a category instead.

If an article is part of a group, but has an ordered
relationship with others—like previous/next—it's best to put the
navigation in an infobox.

Tabbers can be an effective way of displaying information. But
it’s i…

This is the third post in a series of six about admins on
FANDOM, adapted from past posts written by Sannse.

Today I'd like to share some thoughts on how you should choose a
new admin

The choice of admin or bureaucrat on a wiki is a very important
one. A good admin can grow and nurture the wiki, and make it
thrive. A bad one, at worst, can cause major disruption and drive
good community members away".

There are different views on how many admins a wiki needs. Some
prefer to have many, to divide up the admin tasks between them, and
to make sure someone is always available. Others prefer a strong
core of the best candidates, to make it easier for them to work
directly together and in tune. I would advise starting with a very
small group for a n…

Since the beginning of the year we've had a consistent goal
throughout our product development: reducing the number of ads on
the wiki page. This was a big part of the project we call Wiki
Modernization. We knew that by making design and product
improvements to the site, we would be able to provide a more modern
web experience to users and advertisers without all of the ad
clutter that we've had on pages up until now. We are happy to
announce that we have achieved this milestone. As of this past
Monday, October 2nd, a brand new ad experience is live across the
world that has fewer ads per page. In fact, we have slashed over
30% of total ad units on our site. This is something FANDOM and
users alike have wanted for years, and it's incredibl…

Whether you're looking for in-depth, comprehensive information on
wikis or breaking news or stories from the entertainment world,
FANDOM is the ideal place for fans to stay up-to-date on all the
topics you're most passionate about.

Wiki content on some of our most popular communities has long
been available to mobile users via our community apps, which can be
found in the Apple Store and Play Store so you can browse wiki
articles and participate in Discussions.

Today, we're proud to launch the FANDOM app so you can
follow the latest on your favorite entertainment fandom from your
phone!

The FANDOM app covers a broad range of TV, movie, and video game
topics that are tailored to your personal interests and
hand-curated by FANDOM to guarantee the…

This is the second in a series of six posts about admins on
FANDOM, adapted from past posts written by Sannse.

People on FANDOM want to help. It seems to be a characteristic
of people around here, and is something really special about our
community. Often that urge to help leads to questions like "please
can I be a chatmod?" or "how can I join the VSTF?" So today let's
look at that.

The most important thing to know is: you don't need to have
rights or a profile badge to be helpful. There is a lot you can
do without the admin profile badge, and a lot of pride and
satisfaction you can get out of doing it.

The route to becoming an admin or getting other rights for a
community will vary a lot from place to place. Some wikis have a
voting page wher…

This is the first in a series of six posts about admins on
FANDOM, adapted from past posts written by Sannse.

These are some thoughts about the things that I strive for when
I'm on FANDOM. My aim in life is to try to avoid adminitis and to
follow the example of the best admins around.

Admins are role models. They are the people who others
want to be. They lead by example, showing how it's possible to stay
polite and reasonable in the most heated dispute. They are the ones
that others trust and try to emulate. They choose their words and
actions knowing that they are demonstrating good practice with
everything they do.

Admins are supportive. They are the person that everyone
turns to in a difficult situation, the one who brings calm and
reason …

Wiki Modernization is ensuring that FANDOM is a modern digital
experience that provides the right content at the right time, is
easy to navigate, and delivers a better experience for both users
and advertisers. To help readers discover great content, we’re
excited to announce a revamped Fan Feed that showcases content from
your wiki, Discussions, and FANDOM News and Stories.

English communities have had the Fan Feed at the bottom of wiki
articles for some time. This list of recommended articles has
helped readers find more content on the site. Tomorrow, we are
releasing a new look and a more interesting content mix to the
English Fan Feed.

Since its introduction, the Fan Feed has showcased a mix of
FANDOM editorial articles. The new update c…